Royal Street will be awash with art lovers during Dirty Linen Night

Despite its name, a takeoff on Whitney White Linen Night, the longstanding Julia Street showcase of galleries, Saturday's Dirty Linen Night is not a rival of its namesake, but simply an admirer.

Courtesy of Dirty Linen NightIt is sometimes tough to decide where to go next during Dirty Linen Night, which features more than 60 shops and galleries from the 200 to 1000 blocks of Royal Streets.

The event, in which more than 60 galleries and merchants on Royal Street stay open late to create a nine-block party with drinks and mingling, was founded in 2002 when a group of artists with the nonprofit RHINO Contemporary Crafts Co., then located on Julia Street, decided to piggyback on the success of White Linen Night.

"They saw what was going on and how successful it was, so they wanted to take that and call it Dirty Linen Night, " said event co-organizer Laurie Toups. "Wear your dirty linens from White Linen Night and come down."

The first Dirty Linen Night filled just one block on Royal Street, but has grown to take up most of the street's French Quarter stretch. Though organizers do not book music specifically for the event, regular French Quarter street performers typically stay late and are often invited into galleries to perform, Toups said.

"We have a really mixed bag of (musical) styles, " she said.

Many of the inaugural Dirty Linen Night participants, such as Frederick Guess Studio, Gallery Rinard and Off the Beaten Way Art Gallery, are still involved. One year, painter Robert Guthrie "actually painted a piece over the course of two hours, " Toups said. "It was his rendition of Dirty Linen Night."

What: Royal Street galleries and merchants stay open late and invite guests to check out art and other wares, sample drinks and snacks, listen to music and mingle.

When: Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m.

Where: 200 to 1000 blocks of Royal Street.

Admission: Free.

Information: Call 504.236.8711.

Newcomers include Barbara Yochum of 906 Dream Studio -- "I don't even think she's got her sign up in the door yet, " Toups said -- and Alex Beard, who will use the night to celebrate his studio's one-year anniversary.

"We're blessed with so many good artists in one location, " she said.

Of course, Dirty Linen Night is not just about the art, but all willing Royal Street merchants. "More than half our participants are art galleries, but we have jewelry stores, antiques stores, things for the home, hats and all kinds of fun things, " Toups said.

"Of course, we have Fifi Mahony's. We call her our fashionista, because we definitely can't have a party without fabulous wigs and eyelashes."

For the first time, Dirty Linen Night organizers are putting in a "headquarters" at Creole Cuisine's Royal House, 441 Royal St., which will offer "dirty linen martinis" and a special "dirty" menu of appetizers, entrees and desserts, including charbroiled mussels, blackened chicken with dirty rice and Mississippi Mud cheesecake.

Over the past nine years, "what remains true about the Royal Street galleries is that we have a large group of artist-owned galleries and studios, " Toups said. "You can walk into the galleries and meet the artists. Many times you'll see them working.

"It's a great treat for visitors and locals alike to go in and meet the artist whose work they may soon have on their walls."